Plaid Cymru vows to be a strong voice for rural communities

Plaid Cymru Shadow Minister for Sustainable Communities, Farming and Food, Llyr Gruffydd, will today launch his party’s Agriculture Manifesto, vowing that a Plaid Cymru government would be a strong voice for Wales’s rural communities.

Visiting a farm in Carmarthenshire with fellow candidates Elin Jones (Ceredigion), Adam Price (Carmarthen East and Dinefwr) and Simon Thomas (Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire), Llyr Gruffydd will outline Plaid Cymru’s plans to ensure that Wales’s agriculture industry prospers in future.

The plans will include measures to address Labour’s CAP (Common Agricultural Policy) fiasco, scrap the six-day-standstill rule which is hampering farm businesses, introduce a strategy to save council farms from being sold off, and increase the amount of Welsh food purchased by the public sector in Wales.

Speaking ahead of the launch, Llyr Gruffydd, who lives on a family farm said:

“If elected in May, a Plaid Cymru government would vow to be a strong voice for Wales’s rural communities.

“For too long, Labour Ministers have undermined our vital agriculture industry by making Wales the most modulated country in Europe – a decision that took £250m out of the pockets of Welsh farmers.

“Plaid Cymru wants to put this right by bringing forward policies that will ensure that the industry prospers in future.

“Our agriculture manifesto includes ambitious but achievable proposals to address Labour’s CAP fiasco and make sure Welsh farmers have a stronger voice in CAP simplification discussions, and scrap the six-day-standstill rule which is hampering farm businesses at the very time we need more flexibility.

“We would also introduce a strategy to save council farms from being sold off, under a wider programme to support new entrants into the industry.

“As part of Plaid Cymru’s wider proposals to raise procurement levels throughout Wales, we would ensure that the agriculture industry benefits from this by increasing the amount of Welsh food purchased by the public sector.

“The Party of Wales has a strong track record of supporting agriculture and campaigning for rural service. We are looking forward to unveiling this comprehensive manifesto and to discussing the ideas it contains with the Welsh farming sector.”